Don't we love the word? Read,
sung, prayed. Bless my heart. Go with me, if you would, one
more time to Hebrews 13. Verse 25 says grace be with you
all. That's the first sentence in
that verse. The second sentence says. Amen. That means so be it. I wholeheartedly
agree. May that be established as the
truth. Grace. Be with you all. That's the title of this message. That is my honest, sincere desire
in my heart. I mean, I mean that. That is
honestly. What is in my heart? That is my prayer before God. that when it's your turn, when it is your turn, every person in here will have
a turn, one by one. And I'm telling you my prayer
before God and the desire in my heart is that when it is your
turn, to go stand before the throne of God in the day of judgment. Grace will be with you. Grace be with you all. Now this is how the Bible dictionary
defines grace. Good will. Loving kindness. that which affords
joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness, and favor. May grace be with you all, and
me too. I want to be included in it too.
May grace be with us all. Now here is the outline for this
message on grace. I have a simple and brief outline. Number one, the need of it. Number two, the source of it. Number three, the freeness of
it. Number four, the abundance of
it. and number five, the sufficiency
of it. All I want to do is very simply
go through each of those things, seeing them in the scripture,
and then we'll be done. Grace be with you all. First,
the need of it. Why do we need grace? Why do we need Why is it so important that we
receive grace? Well, go with me to Hebrews 4
again. We were just there in the Bible
study. Hebrews 4. Verse 16 says, Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. It was grace that sent mercy. It was grace that sent mercy. It was good will. It was loving
kindness. It was favor that sent Christ
and his blood to man. It was grace that sent mercy.
Look at verse 15 just before it. For we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Now this is where our Lord differs
from every other man who was given the position of high
priest. Our high priest did not just
make an offering for our sin. Our high priest was touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. He groaned within himself. Our high priest, it says, for
we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin. He bore our sins in His own body. He knows. He knows. It's awful to be a sinner. It's
awful. Oh, it's awful. It's miserable.
It's so sorrowful. He knows. He knows. That groaning within Himself
when He said, My soul is sorrowful even unto death." He was in that
moment knowing what it felt like to bear my sin. He knew what it felt like for
me in that moment when I say, He bore our sins in His own body. He completely removed them from
us. All together. That's called mercy. It's called mercy. God did not
give us the punishment we deserved because He gave it to Christ
in our place. Christ bore it. And that's called mercy. It was
grace that sent Christ. He is the grace. He is the gift. That showed mercy to us. Grace
started the whole thing. Christ started the whole thing.
God's grace started the whole thing. Where does the gospel
start with grace? Grace. Verse 16 again says, let
us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may
obtain mercy and find help, find grace to help in time of need. Ephesians 2 says, by grace are
you saved. That's why we need it. That's
why we need it. By grace are you saved. A sinner cannot be saved outside
of grace. cannot be saved. Amazing grace,
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was
lost and now I'm found. I was blind, I was so blind.
Now I see. It was grace that did all that.
Grace did all that. It was grace that taught my heart
to fear. And grace, my fears relieved. Grace did all that. Grace accomplished
everything concerning my salvation. Everything. And that's why I need it. And
that's why we all need it. Start to finish. Grace. We cannot leave this world without
grace. We cannot assume on our standing
before God. Let's not leave this world assuming
that God's happy. We must have grace. We cannot
leave this world without grace. No salvation without it. All
right, let's move on to the next thing. The source of it. We need grace. Where does grace
come from? Where can we find it? How do
we receive it? If it's so vital, where can we
find it? Go with me to the book of Ezra.
It's a few books before Job in the Old Testament. It's page
662 in my Bible. Ezra chapter nine. Ezra chapter nine, verse five
says, Ezra says, at the evening sacrifice, I arose up from my
heaviness and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell
upon my knees and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God
and said, oh my God, I am ashamed and blushed to lift up my face
to thee, my God. For our iniquities are increased
over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers
have we been in great trespass unto this day. And for our iniquities
have we, our kings and our priests, been delivered into the hand
of the kings of the lands. to the sword, to captivity and
to a spoil and to confusion of face as it is this day. And now
for a little space, grace hath been showed from the Lord our
God to leave us a remnant to escape and to give us a nail
in his holy place that our God may lighten our eyes and give
us a little reviving in our bondage. Grace comes from the Lord our
God. It comes from the Lord our God. Grace, grace, God's grace. It's God's grace. Peter said he is the God of all
grace. He is the God of all of it. If
we receive grace, it will only come from Him. It only comes
from Him. He's the only source of grace,
which means He's the only source of salvation. The only source. And this is specifically how
we receive it. It's His grace, it comes from
Him, and this is how we receive it from Him. If you look with
me at 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 4 says, I thank my God always on your
behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ. There is one source of grace,
only one way for a sinner to receive it. in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 5 says, that in everything
you are enriched by Him, in all utterance and in all knowledge,
even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that
you come behind in no gift, no grace, waiting for the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you unto the
end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, I'll be gracious to
whom I'll be gracious. And I'm gonna be gracious in
and through my son. That's where grace comes. If
we need grace, we need Christ. Only through him, he is the source.
All right, now the next thing. The next thing we're going to
see about grace is wonderful. This is wonderful. And it's truly
wonderful because of who he said he would give it to. That's what
makes this so wonderful. Because of who he said he was
going to give his grace to, he said, I'm going to give it to
the poor. That's who I'm giving it to. I'm going to give my grace to
he that hath no money. That's who I'm giving it to.
Let's look at how free it is. So free. Go with me to Romans
chapter 5. Romans 5 verse 15 says, but not
as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the
offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God and
the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ hath abounded
unto many. This grace that we need so badly,
we need it so badly. This grace that is only found
in the precious, priceless person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
is a free gift to every sinner that God is pleased to give it
to. It is a free gift. It's a free gift. What must I
do to be saved? What is this going to cost me?
What do I have to give up? If I'm going to be saved, what
do I have to give up? This is a free gift. This is
a free gift on the part of the center. On the part of the recipient,
it is a free gift to every soul God is pleased to give it to.
Go back to Romans 3, just two chapters back. Romans 3 verse
24, it says, being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans
3 is one of my favorite chapters. Because it so clearly describes
us. Verse 10, as it is written, there's
none righteous, no not one. There's none that understand
it. None seek after God. None on
their own go seeking after God. Isn't that glorious? If a man
goes seeking after God, he didn't start that. If a man goes seeking
after God, it means God has already sought him. I'm seeking the Lord. Where is the Lord? Where is the
Lord? That's God the Father, straight to Christ. I'm trying
to find the Lord. He said, you seek, you'll find,
because if you seek, he's already found you. But none naturally seek after
God. Verse 12, they're all gone out
of the way. They're all unprofitable. There's
none that do with good. No, not one. The things that
come out of their throat, out of their mouth, it's an open
sepulcher. With their tongues, they've used deceit. The poison
of asp is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and
misery are in their ways. And the way of peace have they
not known, and there's no fear of God before their eyes. And
then they get a hold of the law, trying to fix it, trying to fix
it. Not realizing that verse 20 says,
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight. By the law is just the knowledge
of our sin. And then the gospel comes. Verse
23, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God being
justified freely. Don't you love that? The cry
goes out, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God
being justified freely. justified freely through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Years, years, I spent in vanity
and pride. And I'm not, I'm talking about
me. Caring not, my Lord was crucified. Knowing not, it was for me he
died. On Calvary. By God's word, at
last, my sin I learned. Then I trembled at the law that's
burned. Till my guilty soul, imploring,
turned to Calvary. And as soon as I turned to Calvary,
you know what I found? You know what I saw? Mercy there
was great, and grace was free. Pardon there was multiplied to
me. There, my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary. That's why I cannot preach anything
but, that's why I cannot preach anything but, not have I gotten
what I received. Grace hath bestowed it, I have
believed. Boasting excluded, pride I base,
I'm only a sinner saved by grace. God's freely bestowed grace.
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. He that
hath no money, Come ye, buy, eat. Come buy corn and wine without
money, without price. Let your soul delight itself
in badness. It's all free. It's all free. That's amazing, isn't it? It's
amazing. Oh, the need of it. The source
of it. The freeness of it. Now let's
take a look at the abundance of it. We just read it in Romans
5. Look with me again at Romans
5 verse 15. But not as the offense, so also
is the free gift. For if through the offense of
one, many be dead, much more. The grace of God. And the gift
by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto
many. Abounded. Verse 17 says, For
if by one man's offense death reigned by one, much more, much
more, They which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Verse 20 says, moreover
the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Much more. Look with me at 2
Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 15. For all things are for your sakes
that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many
redound to the glory of God. And it does, doesn't it? By His
grace, that's what happens right here. Because of this abundant
grace, this abundant grace, the thanksgiving of many is redounding
to the glory of God. Abundant. Our need is so great,
and His supply is so abundant. Our need is so, so great, and
His supply is so abundant. I love this. James said, but
he giveth more grace. That's what James said. Our need
is so great because our sin is so great, but he giveth more
grace. How much? It's so abundant. It's so abundant. When I was
studying this, every point that came to my mind, I was thinking
about grace. Well, we need it. Where does
it come from? Each of these points, every time
a point came into my mind, a song came into my mind. That's why
I'm quoting so many songs. Listen to this one. Listen to
the words of this one. This describes the indescribable abundance,
the indescribable abundance of God's grace. It says, wonderful
grace of Jesus. greater than all my sin? How
can my tongue describe it? Where can my praise begin? Taking
away my burden, setting my spirit free. For the wonderful grace
of Jesus reaches me all the way out here where I am. Wonderful,
the matchless grace of Jesus. How abundant is it? Well, it's
deeper than the mighty Rowan Sea. It's deeper than that. Higher than the mountain. Sparkling
like a fountain. All sufficient grace for even
me. It's broader than the scope of
my transgressions. Greater far than all my sin and
shame. Oh, magnify the precious name
of Jesus. Praise His name. Praise His name
for His abounding, reaching to the uttermost grace. One last thing. Turn with me
to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 10 says, But by the grace of God, I am
what I am. And his grace, which was bestowed
upon me, was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly
than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God,
which was with me." What does that mean? That means God's grace
accomplished it all. God's grace accomplished it all.
He said, I am what I am by God's grace. He said, I labored more
abundantly by God's grace. But he said it was not I who
did any of it. The grace of God accomplished
it all, and that's That's the case for every recipient
of grace. Every single one, every center
who receives God's grace will find his grace was sufficient. I was not had nothing to do with
me. His grace was sufficient. Every
sinner that makes it to glory is going to be crying forever.
We'll never stop crying this. His grace was sufficient. He said, God said, My grace is
sufficient. And every soul there will say,
It sure was. It sure was. I will never be
able to keep myself. I'll never be able to Between
now and eternity, if that comes in the next 60 seconds, I still
can't keep myself. I will never be able to keep
myself, but if God sheds his grace on me, if he sheds his
grace on us, Christ, the gift, the gift of grace, Christ himself,
if he, if God sheds his grace on us, His grace will keep us. Keep all of us. Not one will
be lost. If God sheds his grace, this
is my prayer and desire. Every soul in this room, Lord
shed your grace on every soul in this room. And if he does,
not one will be lost. Not one. He'll keep us. Here's
my final song. It was grace that brought me
safe thus far, and grace, Christ himself, will lead me home. He's brought us safe thus far,
and he'll lead us home. May God's grace be with us all. Amen. Let's all stand together.